Martin Brundle: Lewis Hamilton “didn’t look impressed” after “painful” race end

Hamilton started from 19th in Monza due to engine penalties but impressively cut through the grid to finish in fifth, while Max Verstappen extended his lead in the 2022 standings by winning again.

The race concluded with a Safety Car on track meaning Verstappen could not be overtaken - it drew comparisons to how former race director Michael Masi incorrectly applied the rule at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix to thwart Hamilton.

Brundle wrote about Hamilton in his Sky column: “He didn't look that impressed as he walked through parc ferme as I waited to interview the top three.”

Brundle described the race ending as “painful to watch” and added: “What followed was a catalogue of problems which ruined the end of the race, not that Charles Leclerc was going to catch Verstappen it must be said. Carlos Sainz may have had a look at George Russell for the final spot on the podium.

“There has been an initiative discussed whereby, in the final five laps of a race, if there's an issue of this kind then throw the red flag and have a standing start re-start. We saw this in Azerbaijan last year and it does make for great anticipation and a thrilling finale to a race.

I must say though that for me a red flag means a very serious incident or something like a cloud burst and a waterlogged track.

“The red flag can be used as a tool to neutralise a race along with yellow flags, and one of two safety car options. But when the safety car picked up third place George Russell's Mercedes rather than comfortable race leader Max Verstappen, with a bunch of back markers in between, then it really did fall apart."

Brundle concluded: “It was not the FIA's finest event. It's such a short race there anyway due to the high average speeds, and the fans would have deserved a thriller at the restart.”